Were I A Voice
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and five:  top 16  Mike has to duet with Tina... He's never done this before, and his fear is getting in the way.


Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 24th cycle. Now cycle 25!

_**It's cycle 25!**__ If you'll recall, back in cycle 10 I did my top 15 of favorite things (characters, ships, friends..) in Glee, with a ficlet for each of the numbers, and a chapter fic for number 1 (stories 190 to 210). Now this time around, in order to schedule in a friend's birthday, it's a top SIXTEEN, and the number one's six-chapter fic will be split in three blocks... (5 ficlets-2 chapters-5 ficlets-2 chapters-5 ficlets-2 chapters) It's less confusing than it seems, I promise ;) Here we go!  
**Coming in at number sixteen!**_

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**"Were I A Voice"  
****Mike, Mike/Tina **

He knew something, and he was wondering if they realized it as well… He knew he had never actually sung in Glee Club, never where his one voice could be isolated in any way. He was always part of an ensemble, or a smaller group… part of the crowd, easy to drown out… He'd never been heard by them, but now he would… Had they noticed?

He knew what they counted on him for, in that room… He was the guy that danced… And he was just fine by it, more than happy. He had finally found a place that let him do what he was scared to do in front of anyone before… But now he was supposed to do what he was scared on a whole other level. Even if he had been concerned over people seeing him dance, he didn't have to be worried about his abilities… It was something else entirely with the singing.

He'd given it a shot too… At home, when he was sure there was no one else in the house. He wouldn't blame Mr. Schuester for never calling on him as an eleventh hour rescue, the way he did with his dancing, where his singing was involved. So if it wasn't enough that he'd been scared to step up and show what he could do on both occasions, this time around he had a lot more to be nervous about.

The biggest thing was he didn't want to disappoint anyone, least of all Tina… He had really become part of them, made this family, like they always said… And maybe he had just become settled in his ways, of being in the background, one voice against many, standing out only in his dance, but that wasn't wrong, was it? They would never ask Finn to choreograph, and everyone was alright with that… including Finn.

But then the difference was they'd seen Finn dance, so expectations had been taken care of… They had never heard him sing. Did they expect him to be good? Great? Terrible? He didn't think they'd suddenly think less of him when they heard him sing, but… he still couldn't think about going up there without getting the slightest of sensations like he was about to make a big mistake.

But there was Tina… She believed in him, and he had no idea why… Even she had never heard him sing, but she believed, sight unseen, or song unheard at least… which was sweet in theory, but worrisome in thought… Would she be so disappointed that she would leave him, maybe run back into the arms of her ex-boyfriend, who could sing circles around him? It might sound silly to most people, but he couldn't help how the thought wouldn't leave him. Tina was one of the best things that had happened to him in a while, since… since he'd joined Glee Club, and he'd gotten himself to open up… He didn't want to lose her over something like this…

By any means, that reason alone should have been enough to give him the boost he needed, to not be scared anymore, but it didn't, and so he had to look beyond, somehow hope that there would be an answer for him.

He lived a life of dance, always had. Even his dreams had become intricate scenes, like they came right out of a great big Hollywood musical. They were comfortable, a place where he could always be filled with so much joy. Now he wondered if those dreams would be invaded by some sort of prompt for him to sing… Like he would open his mouth, words would come out… and then all the dancing would stop, everyone would look at him, and then… everyone would be gone.

Now in his dreams, as soon as Tina would appear, he would take hold of her hand and never let go, like she would protect him from whatever came along, trying to force him to sing.

But then when it did happen, when someone did come along as he'd feared – strangest of all, in the shape of his neighbor, who would complain that his music was too loud at times – it wasn't as he expected… because something else happened.

His 'neighbor' demanded song, and Mike's heart would tighten, cornered in fear and finding no place to stand but in the spot where he stood, so much he almost forgot the hand he was holding… Tina's hand. And she clawed out the darkness from around him, brought the light back. She brought a song to his dream, and terrified as he was, so long as she was there, he could sing, too…

When he woke up the next morning, the day of their duet, he still felt a little cloudy, like any moment he'd turn around and realize it was still the dream… Even if he'd decided he could do it, that he would at least try, it didn't suddenly give him abilities greater than his own… that wouldn't change. But he looked to Tina, and he remembered how she made him feel in his dream, and it gave him the push he needed to just turn around and let it out… Whatever happened after, he'd make them proud, Tina most of all.

THE END

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**A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
****always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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